Source: Council of the European Union
The President of the European Council, António Costa, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, representing the EU, met Japanese Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba at the 30th EU-Japan summit in Tokyo, Japan. The summit provided an opportunity to show the closeness of the EU-Japan partnership, ever more important in the current turbulent geopolitical context.
Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
TOKYO, July 23 (Xinhua) — Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Wednesday reiterated his intention to stay in office, denying reports that he will resign soon and stressing the need to avoid a political vacuum.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with senior Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) officials, Ishiba said they had not discussed his resignation at all, adding that “the reports are unfounded.”
Shigeru Ishiba faces a critical political moment as discontent within the ruling LDP threatens to undermine his leadership following an internal LDP review of its crushing defeat in the recent House of Councillors (upper house) elections.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Mainichi newspaper reported that Shigeru Ishiba had informed close aides of his intention to step down by August. –0–
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
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Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
UKEF announces its support for British engineering firm Dyrhoff, enabling the company to supply key components for a large-scale water management project in the United States.
A water control gate installed by Dyrhoff in Scotland. Image provided by Dyrhoff
Dyrhoff, a Folkestone-based provider of water control gates, has recently won a major export contract following support from UK Export Finance (UKEF) and NatWest.
The business is supporting a flood protection project in North Dakota, using both UK and internationally manufactured parts.
Dyrhoff, a provider of water control gates, has won a major contract to deliver two pneumatically operated spillway gates for a flood protection project in North Dakota, USA, following support from a government financing scheme.
Throughout its more than 30 years, the business has specialised in the design and supply of inflatable rubber dams and spillway gates. These gates can be used to reduce flood risk and aid water regulation.
In line with the government’s Plan for Change and its mission to kickstart economic growth, UKEF guaranteed a $475,000 finance facility to be issued by NatWest. This facility enabled Dyrhoff to meet the bonding terms required to win the contract in North Dakota.
Dyrhoff works with UK and international partners to engineer and manufacture parts which are subsequently assembled at the project location. The majority of Dyrhoff’s business originates from overseas contracts, contributing to 156 projects in over 33 countries, including USA, Italy, Canada, Norway, Turkey, Portugal and Indonesia.
Although Dyrhoff is a seasoned exporter, the financial support provided by UKEF has enabled the business to win one of its largest contracts to date.
As a result of the North Dakota deal and other successful contracts, Dyrhoff is now planning to increase staff numbers at its manufacturing facility in Folkestone, Kent.
We have been providing market-leading rubber dam and spillway solutions since 1989, but the support afforded by UKEF has enabled us to set our sights on an exciting overseas growth opportunity.
By assisting us in winning such a significant project for the business, UKEF support has set us up to carry on building momentum in key markets like the USA. Despite economic uncertainty in the market, we are now well placed to use this project as a springboard for success.
We are really pleased to be able to assist a business which maintains a focus on developing critical infrastructure to keep areas safe from flooding. A key goal of ours is to continue placing British engineering at the heart of vital projects worldwide, and Dyrhoff is helping to do just that.
I’m delighted to announce NatWest’s Trade Finance support for Dyrhoff, as they secure a significant export contract creating impactful engineering solutions that serve a crucial international and domestic purpose.
The financing package has equipped Dyrhoff to meet essential bonding requirements, thereby enabling the company to secure and mobilise on this project. This partnership, facilitated with the support of UK Export Finance, aligns with NatWest’s commitments to foster the growth of UK-based businesses and contributing to vital infrastructure projects worldwide.
Dyrhoff are a great example of a successful UK exporter and NatWest is proud to support the business with the financial solutions they need to thrive globally.
News of Dyrhoff’s success follows on from the recent publication of UKEF’s Annual Reports and Accounts for 2024/25. The department provided £14.5 billion in loans, guarantees and insurance in support of exporters of all sizes and supported up to 70,000 jobs.
Media enquiries:
Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – Government of the Russian Federation –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
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The first meeting of the organizing committee for the preparation and celebration of the 150th anniversary of the founding of GITIS in 2028, chaired by Tatyana Golikova
Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova held the first meeting of the organizing committee for preparations for the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the founding of GITIS in 2028. The agenda included discussion of the plan of events. The meeting was attended by GITIS Rector Grigory Zaslavsky, Deputy Minister of Culture of Russia Andrei Malyshev, General Director of the NTV television company Alexei Zemsky, Head of the Vocal Arts Department of GITIS Tamara Sinyavskaya, Chairman of the Union of Theatre Workers Vladimir Mashkov and others.
“GITIS annually confirms its status as a leading university in the field of theater education according to the K.S. Stanislavsky system. The upcoming anniversary – the 150th anniversary of the founding of GITIS – is a wonderful opportunity not only to look back on the path traveled, but also to fully present the achievements of the national theater school, recognized throughout the world,” emphasized Tatyana Golikova. – Many destinies and events are connected with GITIS. These are not just pages of history, but the very history of the transformation of our country. Epochs changed, but GITIS remained a forge of outstanding cultural figures. This is its true purpose and role in the fate of Russia.”
Today, the institute has about 1,800 students from 30 countries, who are taught their skills by more than 500 teachers. Eight departments teach actors of dramatic and musical theater, directors of drama, musical theater and circus, choreographers and ballet teachers, theater artists and makeup artists, playwrights, producers and theater historians.
Deputy Minister of Culture Andrei Malyshev emphasized that GITIS is an ambassador of Russian culture and identity, so the institute’s anniversary is important not only for GITIS and the theater community, but also for all of Russian culture.
GITIS is actively developing. “Just two days later, on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin, on July 25, in the city of Blagoveshchensk, we open together with Governor Vasily Orlov of the Far Eastern branch of GITIS. The exams have already passed, the competition was, there was a competition, which is also very important for us, so we are just starting. The next day we move to Heihe, to China, and there we also present the Far Eastern branch of GITIS. It is very important for us that from the moment of changes, we not only have not decreased the flow of foreign students, but there are even more of them. This year we have almost accepted 46 students. This is Latvia, and Italy, and Iran, and Morocco. And of course, we are trying to maintain leadership in Central Asia, we have just held the GITIS school on Lake Issyk-Kul, the traditional, already fourth in a row. There were four countries with Russia. It is also important for us to expand the presence of GITIS in Central and South America. Last year, the second time was held by GITIS School in Chile, the first time GITIS School in Brazil after a long break in the framework of the “Russian seasons“. This year, the Brazilians came to us at the theater festival. It seems to me that one of the most important problems that we realized is that the theater is one of the arts, maybe the only one that cannot exist without constant self -understanding. The writer. It can be written in the world in 100 years by someone that can be brilliant in 100 years, no one will call the contemporaries, we have not been appreciated by the problem of the Institute of Expertise. We began the publication of the “Theater Journal“ and we consider this to be one of the most important tasks of returning a serious and high -quality examination to the theater, ”said the rector of the university Grigory Zaslavsky.
The plan to celebrate the 150th anniversary included 20 events, including festivals, tours, exhibitions and conferences.
Key events include a gala concert dedicated to the 150th anniversary of GITIS, the International Competition of Young Choreographers named after R.V. Zakharov “Maria”, and the premiere of a documentary film about the history of the institute. In September 2028, GITIS will launch its branded train, on which students and teachers will travel from Moscow to Blagoveshchensk with performances and festive concerts, as well as master classes and selection tests in various regions of the country.
Traditional GITIS festivals will be scaled up. The VIII International Student Festival of Diploma Performances “GITIS-fest” will be held in two cities – Moscow and Blagoveshchensk. In April 2028, the XIX International Competition of Young Choreographers named after R.V. Zakharov “Maria” and the XVIII International Festival of Stage Fencing “Silver Sword” named after N.V. Karpov will be held, and in November – the theater festival of the CIS countries “GITIS – Master Class”. The international scientific conference “Perspective – 150 years of GITIS” will bring together young specialists from leading universities in Russia, near and far abroad: art history, theater studies, philology, directing, choreography, scenography.
An exhibition entitled “Russian Revolutionary Theatre” is planned for the fall of 2028, dedicated to the unique traditions of Russian theatre and domestic education in the field of theatrical art.
Other events include tours of GITIS graduation performances in the CIS republics and regions of Russia where GITIS national studios were created. In addition, a series of 12 podcasts from GITIS students with stories about faculties and teachers will be released in 2028.
An important event in preparation for the celebration will be the renovation and restoration work in the main academic building, as well as a major overhaul of the dormitory.
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
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Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), as representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSAR Government), announced that a tender for 10-year HKD institutional Government Bonds (issue number 10GB3507001) under the Infrastructure Bond Programme was held today (July 23).
A total of HK$2.0 billion 10-year Government Bonds were offered today. A total of HK$10.545 billion tender applications were received. The bid-to-cover ratio, i.e. the ratio of bonds applied for to bonds issued, is 5.27. The average price accepted is 100.43, implying an annualised yield of 3.144 per cent.
HKSAR Institutional Government Bonds Tender Results
Tender results of 10-year HKD HKSAR Institutional Government Bonds:
| Tender Date | : | July 23, 2025 |
| Issue Number | : | 10GB3507001 |
| Stock Code | : | 4294 (HKGB 3.17 3507) |
| Issue and Settlement Date | : | July 24, 2025 |
| Tenor | : | 10 years |
| Maturity Date | : | 24 July 2035 |
| Coupon Rate | : | 3.17 per cent |
| Amount Applied | : | HK$10.545 billion |
| Amount Allotted | : | HK$2.0 billion |
| Bid-to-Cover Ratio* | : | 5.27 |
| Average Price Accepted (Yield) | : | 100.43 (3.144 per cent) |
| Lowest Price Accepted (Yield) | : | 100.21 (3.170 per cent) |
| Pro-rata Ratio | : | About 95 per cent |
| Average Tender Price (Yield) | : | 99.13 (3.299 per cent) |
* Calculated as the amount of bonds applied for over the amount of bonds issued.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Following is a question by Dr the Hon Chan Han-pan and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, in the Legislative Council today (July 23):
Question:
According to the data of the Hospital Authority (HA), the number of full-time doctors increased from 5 695 in 2013-2014 to 7 350 in 2023-2024, representing an increase of 29 per cent. During the same period, the number of HA’s specialist outpatient attendances increased by only 18.9 per cent while the relevant increase rate in the number of its general outpatient attendances was 3.34 per cent, and the number of accident and emergency (A&E) attendances even recorded a drop of 4.4 per cent. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the respective numbers of HA doctors providing general outpatient clinic (GOPC) services and specialist outpatient clinic (SOPC) services in 2013-2014 and 2023-2024, as well as the respective percentages of such numbers in the total number of HA doctors (set out in a table);
(2) whether it knows the respective average waiting time for HA’s SOPC new cases, GOPC services and A&E services, the average consultation time per patient, as well as the average number of consultations per doctor in 2013-2014 and 2023-2024 (set out in a table);
(3) whether it knows if the HA has compared the average number of consultations per doctor between the HA and medical institutions in other places; if the HA has not, how the HA assesses the efficiency in the use of doctor manpower and the consultation efficiency; and
(4) as there are views that the aforesaid data show a significant increase in the number of HA doctors from 2013-2014 to 2023-2024, but there is no significant rise in the number of attendances for various outpatient services, whether the Government knows if the HA has examined the reasons for that, and whether the HA will consider providing additional evening consultation services, so as to enhance the efficiency in the use of manpower and the service coverage while alleviating the pressure on the daytime services?
Reply:
President,
In consultation with the Hospital Authority (HA), the consolidated reply to the question raised by Dr the Hon Chan Han-pan, is as follows:
With the ageing population and the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, the demand for various types of services provided by the HA has continued to rise over the past decade. While coping with the ever-rising service demand, the HA is also committed to enhancing the quality and efficiency of public healthcare services, while adopting an integrated and multi-disciplinary team approach in the delivery of various healthcare services, with a view to providing optimal treatment and care to patients.
Apart from providing general out-patient (GOP), specialist out-patient (SOP) and Accident and Emergency (A&E) services as mentioned in the question, doctors of the HA are also tasked with providing a comprehensive range of services including in-patient, out-patient, and day services, as part of the overall healthcare team. The table below sets out the number of hospital beds and the number of attendances for each of the major service categories of the HA in 2013-14 and 2023-24, which show an increase in the utilisation of each of the services over the 11-year period mentioned in the question. In particular, the HA has been gradually promoting ambulatory care and community-based care in recent years to replace the traditional hospital-centric service model, with a particularly significant rise in the demand for day in-patient services.
| 2013-14 | 2023-24 | Increase | |
| Number of hospital beds (as at year-end) |
27 440 | 30 671 | 11.8% |
| Number of in-patient discharges and deaths | 1 026 998 | 1 146 494 | 11.6% |
| Number of patient days | 7 479 088 | 8 750 456 | 17.0% |
| Number of day in-patient discharges and deaths | 542 333 | 809 505 | 49.3% |
| Number of day hospital attendances (Note 1) | 477 553 | 508 961 | 6.6% |
| Number of SOP (Clinical) attendances | 7 040 883 | 8 368 107 | 18.9% |
| Number of Family Medicine out-patient (including Family Medicine Specialist Clinic and GOP clinic) attendances | 6 100 888 | 6 359 781 | 4.2% |
As far as day in-patient services are concerned, day surgery brings significant benefits to patients, the public and the HA. For patients, day surgery has the benefits of causing less disruption to daily lives, reducing the risk of cross-infection and relieving psychological stress. In addition, day surgery is less costly and more efficient as it reduces the need for patients to stay in the hospital overnight, thereby releasing beds for more critical cases. Studies have also shown that the efficacy of day surgery is similar to that of in-patient surgery. For ambulatory palliative care services, the HA provides medical, nursing, rehabilitation, psychosocial and bereavement services through a one-stop multi-disciplinary team to alleviate patients’ symptoms and improve their quality of life, as well as reducing unnecessary hospitalisation. Day rehabilitation services include geriatric day hospitals, day rehabilitation services and allied health rehabilitation services. The HA provides specialty-oriented rehabilitation programmes, such as thoracic rehabilitation, orthopaedic rehabilitation, geriatric rehabilitation and cardiac rehabilitation, in its ambulatory care facilities to cater for the needs of individual types of patients. This development strategy can effectively shorten unnecessary hospitalisation time, help patients return to the community and enhance their ability to take care of their own health.
Moreover, the HA has actively increased the number of endoscopic sessions to meet the public demand for endoscopic examination. The table below sets out the number of common endoscopic procedures performed in 2014-15 and 2023-24.
| 2014-15 | 2023-24 | |
| Common endoscopic procedures (Note 2 and 3) | 9 608 | 10 591 |
The HA will review and plan the role and positioning of its hospitals in each cluster to reflect the changes in healthcare needs brought about by changes in population in various districts over time, and will review from time to time and ensure that hospitals in the clusters can complement each other in the continual provision of A&E and in-patient, ambulatory care, extended care as well as community care services, so as to ensure that patients will continue to receive optimal treatment and services at appropriate locations.
Please refer to Annex 1 for the number of doctors in each major specialty providing GOP or SOP services and their respective proportions in the total number of doctors in the HA in 2013-14 and 2023-24 as mentioned in the question. However, as mentioned above, since the HA adopts an integrated and multi-disciplinary approach in service provision, and flexibly deploys its staff to meet service and operational needs from time to time, the number of doctors in the above table only reflects the number of doctors providing GOP and SOP services, and the doctors concerned may also be tasked with providing other services including in-patient, A&E and ambulatory services, etc.
The HA has also been implementing various measures over the years to enhance consultation efficiency and improve waiting time.
In respect of SOP services, the HA has implemented a triage system to determine the priority of patients attending SOP clinics (SOPCs) based on their clinical condition. In addition, the HA has also adopted the strategy of “narrowing upstream, collaborating downstream, diverting midstream”. The HA has introduced doctor-led multi-disciplinary integrated clinics, and allocated more resources for new cases, rationalised referral arrangements for cross-specialty cases, set up more integrated clinics to provide multi-disciplinary support, and enhanced primary healthcare to follow up on patients in stable conditions. With the implementation of various measures, the waiting time for SOPCs has improved notably in the past few years. The data shows that the number of new SOP cases in 2023-24 has increased by 18 per cent compared to a decade ago, with the number of stable new cases (i.e. routine cases) increasing from 448 545 in 2013-14 to 577 191 in 2023-24, an increase of 28 per cent. Please refer to the Annex 2 for the number of new cases and waiting time for SOP services in 2013-14 and 2023-24.
In addition, the HA has also rationalised the waiting procedures for SOP services to reduce the waiting time for patients to see doctors, with more than 75 per cent of SOP patients completing the process from registration to doctor consultation within 60 minutes in 2022-23 to 2023-24. The table below shows the percentage of the HA SOP patients who have completed the process from registration to doctor consultation within 60 minutes in 2022-23 and 2023-24:
| Year 2022-23 (Since November 2022) |
Year 2023-24 |
| 76.5% | 83.6% |
Regarding A&E services, to ensure that citizens with urgent needs can receive timely services, A&E departments implement a patient triage system under which patients are classified into five triages, namely critical, emergency, urgent, semi-urgent and non-urgent based on their clinical condition, and will receive treatment as prioritised by their urgency category. The HA’s performance targets specify that all critical patients (i.e. 100 per cent) will receive immediate treatment, and emergency and urgent patients will be prioritised for treatment upon arrival at A&E departments, with the targets being that most emergency patients (95 per cent) and urgent patients (90 per cent) will be treated within 15 and 30 minutes. The table below sets out the number of attendances and average waiting time for each triage category of A&E services in the HA in 2013-14 and 2023-24 respectively:
| No. of A&E attendances | |||||
| Triage 1(Critical) | Triage 2 (Emergency) | Triage 3 (Urgent) | Triage 4 (Semi- urgent) |
Triage 5 (Non- urgent) |
|
| Year 2013-14 |
19 358 | 41 136 | 674 841 | 1 288 359 | 145 406 |
| Year 2023-24 |
28 138 | 56 566 | 820 353 | 1 126 207 | 58 965 |
The above attendances for A&E services under various triage categories in various hospitals under the HA exclude (i) first-time visits without triage categories, and (ii) follow-up visits to the A&E departments.
| Average waiting time (in minutes) for A&E services | |||||
| Triage 1 (Critical) | Triage 2 (Emergency) | Triage 3 (Urgent) | Triage 4 (Semi- urgent) |
Triage 5 (Non- urgent) |
|
| Year 2013-14 |
0 | 7 | 27 | 106 | 124 |
| Year 2023-24 |
0 | 8 | 29 | 180 | 205 |
The data show that, over the past decade, the number of A&E attendances for patients in Triage 1 to Triage 3 has increased by 23 per cent from more than 730 000 to more than 900 000. In particular, attendances for patients in Triage 1 and Triage 2, who are the primary service targets of the A&E departments, have increased by 45 per cent and 38 per cent respectively. That said, patients in these two categories are treated promptly and the relevant average waiting times continue to meet the service targets specified by the HA.
Regarding GOP services, the HA provides public primary healthcare services through its 74 GOP clinics (GOPCs) (including community health centres), providing more than five million out-patient attendances annually. Of these, a total of 23 GOPCs in all districts of Hong Kong provide evening out-patient services until 10pm. Patients under the care of the GOPCs comprise two major categories: patients with chronic diseases in stable medical condition, such as patients with diabetes mellitus or hypertension; and episodic disease patients with relatively mild symptoms, such as those suffering from cold or gastroenteritis. As for patients with chronic diseases requiring follow-up consultations, they will be assigned a time slot for follow-up by the GOPCs after each consultation and do not need to make separate appointments by phone. Episodic disease patients can make appointments for the next 24 hours through the HA GOPC telephone appointment system and “Book GOPC” function in the HA’s one-stop mobile app “HA Go”. There is no waiting time for GOP services.
The HA has been closely monitoring the operation and utilisation of different services with a view to deploying manpower and service resources flexibly. Since 2008, the HA has adopted a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure its service performance, covering clinical services, human resources and finance, with a view to establishing a mechanism for monitoring service performance and identifying service areas for continuous improvement. The HA conducts regular reviews of the KPIs annually and will enhance and refine them in accordance with its service strategies. Progress reports on KPIs are submitted to the HA Board and the Health Bureau on a regular basis, through quarterly progress review reports for the latter, to keep track of the HA’s performance in key service areas. Trend analyses within and across hospital clusters can be conducted to help identify areas for deliberation and formulation of enhancement measures, and to provide reference on service planning and resource allocation.
Moreover, the HA has set up the Governance and Structure Reform Committee to provide strategic guidance, oversight, and reform advice on implementing governance and structure reforms. The work of the Committee includes examining the introduction of KPIs to measure the service performance of the HA.
In recent years, the HA has also endeavoured to enhance public healthcare services through various measures, including enhancing primary healthcare services, shortening the waiting time for cataract surgery, making good use of the Central Government-Aided Emergency Hospital to alleviate the pressure on the radiology services in public hospitals, and establishing centres for major illnesses, with a view to improving the quality and efficiency of treatment. Regarding evening out-patient services, the HA and the Primary Healthcare Commission will also review the demand and supply of evening out-patient services in different districts as well as the utilisation of such services by members of the public in various districts, with emphasis on districts where private evening out-patient services are scanty, with a view to further increasing the number of quotas of evening out-patient services through flexible deployment of manpower and resources, as well as exploring the feasibility of setting up additional evening out-patient clinics.
Note 1: The above figure includes attendances at Geriatric Day Hospitals, Psychiatric Day Hospitals, Day Rehabilitation Services, and Ambulatory Palliative Care Services. Of these, the number of attendances at Geriatric Day Hospitals includes those participating in the Integrated Discharge Support Programme for Elderly Patients.
Note 2: The HA has maintained the relevant statistics since 2014-15.
Note 3: The above endoscopic procedures include bronchoscopy, colonoscopy, colposcopy, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, flexible cystoscopy, oesophagogastroduodenoscopy, sigmoidoscopy and endoscopic ultrasonography. Of these, endoscopic ultrasonography covers upper gastrointestinal tract, lower gastrointestinal tract, as well as bronchus and mediastinum.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Attention TV/radio announcers:
Please broadcast the following as soon as possible:
Here is an item of interest to swimmers.
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (July 23) that the shark prevention net at Big Wave Bay Beach in Southern District, Hong Kong Island, has been repaired, and the beach is reopened. The beach was temporarily closed earlier for shark prevention net maintenance work.
However, according to the Beach Water Quality Forecast System of the Environmental Protection Department (www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/water/beach_quality/forecast_system.html), the Beach Water Quality Forecast Index for Big Wave Bay Beach is 4, which means the predicted water quality at this beach is “Very Poor” due to potential transient water quality fluctuations caused by heavy rain. The red flag has been hoisted, and beachgoers are advised not to enter the water to safeguard their health.
Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
UNITED NATIONS, July 23 (Xinhua) — China’s permanent representative to the United Nations Fu Cong on Tuesday rejected U.S. accusations against Beijing over the South China Sea issue at the Security Council open debate on multilateralism and peaceful settlement of disputes.
The United States itself is creating problems, sowing discord and undermining trust in the South China Sea region, he said in response to accusations from a US representative.
China has indisputable sovereignty over Nanhai Zhudao (South China Sea Islands) and its adjacent waters. China’s territorial sovereignty, maritime rights and interests in the SCS have sufficient historical and legal foundations, Fu Cong said.
Beijing’s position on the SCS arbitration case has always been consistent and clear: China does not accept or recognize the so-called arbitration award and rejects any claims or actions based on it, the diplomat said.
In reality, the overall situation in the SCS has remained stable in recent years, thanks to joint efforts with the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Fu Tsung emphasized. There are no problems with freedom of navigation and overflight, he added.
China has been consistently working with all relevant countries to properly resolve differences over the South China Sea through dialogue and consultation based on respect for historical facts and international law, the Permanent Representative said. –0–
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
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Source: Government of India
Source: Government of India (4)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday embarked on a two-nation visit to the United Kingdom and the Maldives, with a focus on deepening strategic partnerships and regional cooperation.
In his departure statement, the Prime Minister said: “India and the UK share a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership that has witnessed significant progress in recent years. Our collaboration spans a wide range of sectors, including trade, investment, technology, innovation, defence, education, research, sustainability, health, and people-to-people ties.”
The PM added that he will hold bilateral meetings with PM Keir Starmer to discuss further enhancement of the economic partnership, with the aim of fostering prosperity, growth, and job creation in both countries.
“I also look forward to calling on His Majesty King Charles III during the visit,” PM Modi said.
The Prime Minister’s visit to the UK from July 23–24 comes at the invitation of Starmer, marking his fourth trip to the country.
In the second leg of his tour, PM Modi will undertake a state visit to the Maldives from July 25–26 at the invitation of Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu. This will be his third visit to the island nation and the first by any head of state or government during President Muizzu’s tenure.
Notably, PM Modi will be the Guest of Honour at the Maldives’ 60th Independence Day celebrations on July 26. This year also marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The Prime Minister said he looked forward to meeting President Muizzu and other political leaders of the Indian Ocean archipelago to advance the joint vision of a Comprehensive Economic and Maritime Security Partnership and to deepen cooperation for peace, prosperity, and stability in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
“I am confident that the visit will yield tangible outcomes, benefiting our people and advancing our Neighbourhood First Policy,” the PM said.
IANS
Source: Government of India
Source: Government of India (4)
Heavy rain lashed several parts of Telangana, inundating low-lying areas, cutting off villages and disrupting normal life.
North Telangana districts have been receiving copious rain since Tuesday night.
Rivulets, lakes and ponds were overflowing in agency areas of Mulugu district, which recorded the highest rainfall of 25.5 cm during the last 24 hours.
Villages in Venkatapuram mandal of Mulugu district were marooned. With their houses completely inundated, villagers spent a sleepless night. Venkatapuram-Bhadrachalam main road was submerged, bringing the vehicular traffic to a complete halt.
Eturanagam mandal in Mulugu district recorded 18.4 cm rainfall while Mangapet received 15.8 cm.
United Karimnagar district has been receiving heavy rain since early Wednesday morning. Some colonies in Karimnagar town were inundated. Flood water entered houses and shops in parts of the town.
Heavy rain affected coal production in the mines of state-owned Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL).
Coal production was disrupted in four open-cast mines in Peddapalli district. About 40,000 tonnes of coal are produced in these mines every day.
Flood water entered the open-cast mine at Yellandu in Bhadradri Kothagudem district. The employees deployed motors to pump out water.
Production of 3,500 tonnes of coal came to a halt due to flooding.
Heavy rain was also lashing Warangal, Jangaon, Mahabubabad and Khammam districts.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heavy to very heavy rain in north and Central Telangana districts on Wednesday.
Heavy to very heavy rain is likely in Adilabad, Komaram Bheem Asifabad, Mancherial, Jayashankar Bhupalapally, Mulugu and Bhadradri Kothagudem districts. The IMD has issued an orange alert for these districts.
Heavy rain has been forecast for Nirmal, Nizamabad, Jagtial, Rajanna Sircilla, Karimnagar, Peddapalli, Hanamkonda, Warangal, Jangaon, Mahabubabad, Khammam, Vikarabad and Mahabubnagar districts. These districts have been issued a yellow alert.
The IMD has forecast light to moderate rain in Hyderabad and remaining districts.
Cyberabad Police have advised IT companies to consider following Work from Home mode on Wednesday in view of rain alert.
“An alert has been issued for heavy rain in the Cyberabad area, considering the safety, productivity, traffic congestion and to ensure uninterrupted emergency services. Companies may consider following Work from Home (WFH) mode on 23- 07- 2025 – Wednesday,” read an advisory issued by the Cyberabad Police.
(IANS)
Source: Government of India
Source: Government of India (4)
Heavy rain lashed several parts of Telangana, inundating low-lying areas, cutting off villages and disrupting normal life.
North Telangana districts have been receiving copious rain since Tuesday night.
Rivulets, lakes and ponds were overflowing in agency areas of Mulugu district, which recorded the highest rainfall of 25.5 cm during the last 24 hours.
Villages in Venkatapuram mandal of Mulugu district were marooned. With their houses completely inundated, villagers spent a sleepless night. Venkatapuram-Bhadrachalam main road was submerged, bringing the vehicular traffic to a complete halt.
Eturanagam mandal in Mulugu district recorded 18.4 cm rainfall while Mangapet received 15.8 cm.
United Karimnagar district has been receiving heavy rain since early Wednesday morning. Some colonies in Karimnagar town were inundated. Flood water entered houses and shops in parts of the town.
Heavy rain affected coal production in the mines of state-owned Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL).
Coal production was disrupted in four open-cast mines in Peddapalli district. About 40,000 tonnes of coal are produced in these mines every day.
Flood water entered the open-cast mine at Yellandu in Bhadradri Kothagudem district. The employees deployed motors to pump out water.
Production of 3,500 tonnes of coal came to a halt due to flooding.
Heavy rain was also lashing Warangal, Jangaon, Mahabubabad and Khammam districts.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heavy to very heavy rain in north and Central Telangana districts on Wednesday.
Heavy to very heavy rain is likely in Adilabad, Komaram Bheem Asifabad, Mancherial, Jayashankar Bhupalapally, Mulugu and Bhadradri Kothagudem districts. The IMD has issued an orange alert for these districts.
Heavy rain has been forecast for Nirmal, Nizamabad, Jagtial, Rajanna Sircilla, Karimnagar, Peddapalli, Hanamkonda, Warangal, Jangaon, Mahabubabad, Khammam, Vikarabad and Mahabubnagar districts. These districts have been issued a yellow alert.
The IMD has forecast light to moderate rain in Hyderabad and remaining districts.
Cyberabad Police have advised IT companies to consider following Work from Home mode on Wednesday in view of rain alert.
“An alert has been issued for heavy rain in the Cyberabad area, considering the safety, productivity, traffic congestion and to ensure uninterrupted emergency services. Companies may consider following Work from Home (WFH) mode on 23- 07- 2025 – Wednesday,” read an advisory issued by the Cyberabad Police.
(IANS)
Source: Government of India
Source: Government of India (4)
The Ganga river has once again turned ferocious across Bihar, putting millions of people at risk as water levels continue to rise from Buxar to Kahalgaon in Bhagalpur district.
All 108 gates of the Farakka Barrage have been opened after the river crossed the danger mark.
By Tuesday evening, water levels of the river in Patna was recorded at 43 cm above the Farakka level and 20 cm above the danger mark, placing extreme pressure on embankments.
The Water Resources Department has deployed 600 personnel for round-the-clock monitoring of vulnerable embankments. Over 45 engineers are conducting night patrolling to prevent breaches.
Ten districts – Buxar, Bhojpur, Patna, Vaishali, Samastipur, Munger, Begusarai, Katihar, Bhagalpur, and Khagaria – are under imminent flood threat.
Heavy rainfall in Nepal has swelled the Kosi and Budhi Gandak rivers in North Bihar. Budhi Gandak is 41 cm above the danger mark in Khagaria. Kosi has crossed the red mark in Supaul and Saharsa.
Heavy rainfall in Nepal has raised water levels, with 1,10,845 cusecs of water released from the Kosi Barrage.
The Mahananda River is rising steadily, impacting eastern Bihar and the Seemanchal area.
In Bhagalpur’s Sabour, Kahalgaon, and Pirpainti, Ganga’s erosion is devouring agricultural land, while floodwaters have entered villages in Bariyarpur, Munger.
At Kahalgaon, Ganga is 26 cm above the danger mark.
Apart from the Ganga, Kosi, Burhi Gandak, and Mahananda, Gandak, Punpun, Son, Falgu, and Dardha rivers have also crossed danger marks at several places.
(IANS)
Source: Reserve Bank of India
Ajit Prasad Press Release: 2025-2026/768 |
Source: Reserve Bank of India
Ajit Prasad Press Release: 2025-2026/768 |
Source: Council of the European Union
On 23 July 2025, European Council President António Costa was in Tokyo, Japan for the 30th EU-Japan summit. In his opening remarks at the start of the plenary session, he emphasised the importance of further deepening the EU-Japan strategic partnership, built on shared values and interests.
Source: Government of India
Source: Government of India (4)
The United Nations’ highest court will deliver an opinion on Wednesday that is likely to determine the course of future climate action across the world.
Known as an advisory opinion, the deliberation of the 15 judges of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague is legally non-binding. It nevertheless carries legal and political weight and future climate cases would be unable to ignore it, legal experts say.
“The advisory opinion is probably the most consequential in the history of the court because it clarifies international law obligations to avoid catastrophic harm that would imperil the survival of humankind,” said Payam Akhavan, an international law professor.
In two weeks of hearings last December at the ICJ, also known as the World Court, Akhavan represented low-lying, small island states that face an existential threat from rising sea levels.
In all, over a hundred states and international organisations gave their views on the two questions the U.N. General Assembly had asked the judges to consider.
They were: what are countries’ obligations under international law to protect the climate from greenhouse gas emissions; and what are the legal consequences for countries that harm the climate system?
Wealthy countries of the Global North told the judges that existing climate treaties, including the 2015 Paris Agreement, which are largely non-binding, should be the basis for deciding their responsibilities.
Developing nations and small island states argued for stronger measures, in some cases legally binding, to curb emissions and for the biggest emitters of climate-warming greenhouse gases to provide financial aid.
PARIS AGREEMENT AND AN UPSURGE IN LITIGATION
In 2015, at the conclusion of U.N. talks in Paris, more than 190 countries committed to pursue efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).
The agreement has failed to curb the growth of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Late last year, in the most recent “Emissions Gap Report,” which takes stock of countries’ promises to tackle climate change compared with what is needed, the U.N said that current climate policies will result in global warming of more than 3 C (5.4 F) above pre-industrial levels by 2100.
As campaigners seek to hold companies and governments to account, climate‑related litigation has intensified, with nearly 3,000 cases filed across almost 60 countries, according to June figures from London’s Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
So far, the results have been mixed.
A German court in May threw out a case between a Peruvian farmer and German energy giant RWE RWEG.DE, but his lawyers and environmentalists said the case, which dragged on for a decade, was a still victory for climate cases that could spur similar lawsuits.
Earlier this month, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which holds jurisdiction over 20 Latin American and Caribbean countries, said in another advisory opinion its members must cooperate to tackle climate change.
Campaigners say Wednesday’s court opinion should be a turning point and that, even if the ruling itself is advisory, it should provide for the determination that U.N. member states have broken the international law they have signed up to uphold.
“The court can affirm that climate inaction, especially by major emitters, is not merely a policy failure but a breach of international law,” said Fijian Vishal Prasad, one of the law students that lobbied the government of Vanuatu in the South Pacific Ocean to bring the case to the ICJ.
Although it is theoretically possible to ignore an ICJ ruling, lawyers say countries are typically reluctant to do so.
“This opinion is applying binding international law, which countries have already committed to. National and regional courts will be looking to this opinion as a persuasive authority and this will inform judgments with binding consequences under their own legal systems,” Joie Chowdhury, senior attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law, said.
The court will start reading out its opinion at 3 p.m. (1300 GMT).
(Reuters)
Source: Government of India
Source: Government of India (4)
The number of vertical (mother-to-child) transmission of HIV has declined by around 84 per cent, said Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel in the Parliament during the ongoing Monsoon Session.
In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Patel shared several steps taken by the government to enhance HIV/AIDS awareness.
“Vertical transmission rate has also declined by around 74.5 per cent between 2010 and 2024 compared to around 56.5 per cent globally in the same reference period,” Patel said.
Patel noted that National Aids Control Organisation (NACO), a division of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, undertakes the responsibility to strengthen the awareness campaign against HIV/AIDs, through comprehensive multimedia campaigns, such as with information kiosks, and folk performances, among others.
Digital platforms and social media are also actively leveraged to ensure broader engagement and awareness generation, especially among younger and tech-savvy audiences.
Further, NACO rolled out 1,619 projects nationwide to support high-risk HIV populations.
“High-risk groups, including female sex workers (FSW), men having sex with Men (MSM), people who inject drugs (PWID), transgender (TG) individuals, truck drivers, and migrants are specifically addressed through 1,619 targeted intervention projects across the country,” Patel said.
Self-help groups, anganwadi workers, ASHAs, and members of Panchayati Raj institutions provide training and sensitisation programmes at the grassroots level, fostering community-level awareness and behavioural change.
“To prevent discrimination against people living with HIV (PLHIV), NACO uses thematic campaigns,” Patel said.
These campaigns aim to raise awareness, reduce stigma, and foster inclusivity in diverse settings, including workplaces, healthcare facilities, educational institutions, and communities at large.
In addition, “Ombudsmen have been appointed in 34 States and Union Territories to address complaints related to discrimination against PLHIV,” the MoS said, noting that the efforts underscore the government’s commitment to protecting the rights and dignity of PLHIV.
(IANS)
Source: Government of India
Source: Government of India (4)
A security patch Microsoft released this month failed to fully fix a critical flaw in the U.S. tech giant’s SharePoint server software, opening the door to a sweeping global cyber espionage effort, a timeline reviewed by Reuters shows.
On Tuesday, a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed that its initial solution to the flaw, identified at a hacker competition in May, did not work, but added that it released further patches that resolved the issue.
It remains unclear who is behind the spy effort, which targeted about 100 organisations over the weekend, and is expected to spread as other hackers join the fray.
In a blog post Microsoft said two allegedly Chinese hacking groups, dubbed “Linen Typhoon” and “Violet Typhoon,” were exploiting the weaknesses, along with a third, also based in China.
Microsoft and Alphabet’s Google have said China-linked hackers were probably behind the first wave of hacks.
Chinese government-linked operatives are regularly implicated in cyberattacks, but Beijing routinely denies such hacking operations.
In an emailed statement, its embassy in Washington said China opposed all forms of cyberattacks, and “smearing others without solid evidence.”
The vulnerability opening the way for the attack was first identified in May at a Berlin hacking competition organised by cybersecurity firm Trend Micro that offered cash bounties for finding computer bugs in popular software.
It offered a $100,000 prize for so-called “zero-day” exploits that leverage previously undisclosed digital weaknesses that could be used against SharePoint, Microsoft’s flagship document management and collaboration platform.
The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration, charged with maintaining and designing the nation’s cache of nuclear weapons, was among the agencies breached, Bloomberg News said on Tuesday, citing a person with knowledge of the matter.
No sensitive or classified information is known to have been compromised, it added.
The U.S. Energy Department, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and Microsoft did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment on the report.
A researcher for the cybersecurity arm of Viettel, a telecoms firm run by Vietnam’s military, identified a SharePoint bug at the May event, dubbed it “ToolShell” and demonstrated a way to exploit it.
The discovery won the researcher an award of $100,000, an X posting by Trend Micro’s “Zero Day Initiative” showed.
Participating vendors were responsible for patching and disclosing security flaws in “an effective and timely manner,” Trend Micro said in a statement.
“Patches will occasionally fail,” it added. “This has happened with SharePoint in the past.”
In a July 8 security update Microsoft said it had identified the bug, listed it as a critical vulnerability, and released patches to fix it.
About 10 days later, however, cybersecurity firms started to notice an influx of malicious online activity targeting the same software the bug sought to exploit: SharePoint servers.
“Threat actors subsequently developed exploits that appear to bypass these patches,” British cybersecurity firm Sophos said in a blog post on Monday.
The pool of potential ToolShell targets remains vast.
Hackers could theoretically have already compromised more than 8,000 servers online, data from search engine Shodan, which helps identify internet-linked equipment, shows.
Such servers were in networks ranging from auditors, banks, healthcare companies and major industrial firms to U.S. state-level and international government bodies.
The Shadowserver Foundation, which scans the internet for potential digital vulnerabilities, put the number at a little more than 9,000, cautioning that the figure is a minimum.
It said most of those affected were in the United States and Germany.
Germany’s federal office for information security, BSI, said on Tuesday it had found no compromised SharePoint servers in government networks, despite some being vulnerable to the ToolShell attack.
(Reuters)
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
​Following is a question by the Hon Stanley Ng and a written reply by the Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin, in the Legislative Council today (July 23):
Question:
The media earlier reported that some Hong Kong students had developed problems of different natures while participating in Mainland exchange tours (exchange tours), which has aroused public concerns about the quality of the exchange tours and may have an impact on the willingness of parents, teachers and students to go north for exchange. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the total number of primary and secondary schools that have been subsidised by the Education Bureau (EDB) and the number of primary and secondary students who have participated since the implementation of the Mainland exchange programmes for students; the effectiveness of the programmes;
(2) whether the EDB has provided various schools with the tendering criteria for selecting the service providers of exchange tours; if so, of the details; the review mechanism in place to examine areas such as health and accommodation safety of the exchange tours, and whether guidelines have been drawn up to specify the requirements for the capability of service providers to respond to incidents; and
(3) it is learnt that the EDB has pointed out that if the quality of the exchange tours was poor, the service providers concerned would not be invited to submit bid again by the authorities, whether the authorities have used the service providers’ records of the exchange tours as the selection criterion, and of the effectiveness of the relevant selection mechanism; whether the authorities have put in place a mechanism to regularly review and enhance the arrangements for the exchange tours (e.g. the itinerary arrangements and selection of itineraries for patriotic education); whether any service providers have been removed from the list of potential service providers for exchange tours by the EDB due to poor track record; if so, of the details?
Reply:
President,
Since the 2004/05 school year, the Education Bureau (EDB) has been providing students with Mainland exchange opportunities in line with the country’s latest developments and the school curriculum every year. This includes organising Mainland exchange programmes (MEPs) of different themes for students and subsidising schools to organise such programmes. Approximately 100 000 subsidised quotas are provided each year to ensure that every student has the opportunity to join at least one MEP each in their primary and secondary stages. The EDB has commissioned external organisations to provide services (e.g. transportation, meals, accommodation and exchange activities) for programmes such as the Mainland Exchange Programme for Junior Secondary and Upper Primary Students and the Mainland Exchange Programme for Secondary School Students, etc. To take better care of students and teachers, every tour will be accompanied by a licensed medical professional or a tour escort holding a valid first aid certificate. Schools may also apply for subsidies from the EDB under two programmes, namely the Junior Secondary and Upper Primary School Students Exchange Programme Subsidy Scheme: “Understanding Our Motherland” and the Senior Secondary School Students Exchange Programme Subvention Scheme, to design their own Mainland exchange activities according to school-based needs and students’ learning needs. MEPs for students align with learning elements of the curriculum and cover diversified learning themes, including history, culture, economics, science and technology. Through participation in the various programmes mentioned above, students can gain first-hand experience of the development of our country from multiple perspectives, and consolidate and deepen classroom learning. This will in turn enhance their understanding of the country and their sense of national identity. Mainland exchange activities for students have delivered remarkable learning outcomes since their launch. Furthermore, to tie in with the implementation of the senior secondary subject of Citizenship and Social Development (CS), the EDB has launched CS Mainland study tours since April 2023. As Mainland study tours form an integral part of the CS curriculum, all senior secondary students studying the local curriculum will receive a full subsidy once to participate in CS Mainland study tours organised by the EDB. After completing their CS Mainland study tours, students have to conduct project learning and submit a report to the school in the form of an individual project.
Our reply to the question raised by the Hon Stanley Ng is as follows:
(1) With student participation on a voluntary basis, MEPs for students have all along been well received by schools, parents and students. During the five school years (s.y.) from the 2014/15 to 2018/19 s.y., the number of primary and secondary student participants increased from approximately 50 000 to more than 70 000. With full resumption of normal travel between Hong Kong and the Mainland, the EDB resumed MEPs for students in the 2023/24 s.y., and the responses from schools were positive, with around 68 000 students participating, which was comparable to its pre-pandemic level. The response in the 2024/25 s.y. is even more encouraging, with over 80 000 primary and secondary students already enrolled in MEPs for students, showing that the programmes are highly popular among schools. Schools will decide on the departure dates based on their school context and students’ learning needs. The numbers of students participating in MEPs from the 2022/23 to the 2024/25 s.y. are as follows:
| School year | Number of students (rounded down to the nearest hundred) |
| 2022/23 | 600 |
| 2023/24+ | 68 200 |
| 2024/25++ | 81 000 |
+ Actual figures revised from last year’s estimates
++ Provisional figures (actual figures to be confirmed after departure)
In addition, following the launch of CS Mainland study tours since April 2023, the EDB has arranged for a cumulative total of more than 140 000 senior secondary students and 15 000 teachers to take part in the study tours in the past three school years (from the 2022/23 to 2024/25 s.y.). The EDB has continued to enhance the scale of and arrangements for CS Mainland study tours. With respect to the number of routes, there is an increase from 22 one-to-three-day tours in the Guangdong Province in the 2022/23 s.y. to 28 one-to-five-day tours in the 2024/25 s.y., covering 11 provinces and municipalities, so as to enable students to participate in various types of learning activities during CS Mainland study tours. Experiential learning activities are arranged in the activity bases for students’ comprehensive practice or other visiting spots as part of the itinerary. The numbers of students participating in CS Mainland study tours from the 2022/23 to 2024/25 s.y. are as follows:
| School year | Number of students (rounded down to the nearest hundred) |
| 2022/23 | 43 300 |
| 2023/24+ | 49 900 |
| 2024/25++ | 50 400 |
+ Actual figures revised from last year’s estimates
++ Provisional figures (actual figures to be confirmed after departure)
In conclusion, it is without doubt that MEPs for primary and secondary students and CS Mainland study tours are beneficial to students. According to the results of questionnaire survey, feedback from teachers and students on these programmes are very positive. They generally consider that Mainland exchange and study tours have extended classroom learning and deepened students’ understanding of our country’s history, culture and technological development, etc, thereby instilling in them a sense of belonging to our country and enhancing their sense of national identity; facilitated friendship building through exchanges between local and Mainland students; and enhanced students’ understanding of the rapid development of our country to help them seize future development opportunities.
(2) and (3) In selecting service providers for Mainland exchange and study tours, the EDB has all along been following the established government procedures of services procurement, with assessment and approval made under the principles of fairness, openness and impartiality. Service providers are required to have relevant experiences in organising Mainland exchange and study tours for students. During tender evaluation, the EDB will take into account both technical factors (including pro-innovation proposals) and price factors, and may not necessarily award contracts to the lowest bidders.
With the safety and health of students as the prime concern, the EDB has established a regular mechanism to safeguard the safety of students during Mainland exchange and study tours. For instance, the service providers are required by the EDB to formulate for its scrutiny contingency guidelines and arrangements for handling various emergency situations encountered in Mainland exchange and study tours, such as inclement weather, accidents, loss of identity documents and physical discomfort. Prior to departure of each tour, the service providers are required to communicate properly with the schools and arrange on-site briefings to go through the itinerary, points to note and ways to cope with emergencies, etc. Handbooks and name badges containing information about dealing with emergency incidents (e.g. emergency telephone numbers in the Mainland, and particulars and contact numbers of the accompanying staff) will be distributed to teachers and students for persual during the tour. The EDB has put in place a notification mechanism on the safety of students, through which the service providers are required to report on a daily basis the situation of each of the tours during the course of the journey. In addition, the EDB gauges participants’ feedback of these programmes by holding regular meetings with the service providers, deploying staff to attend the programmes to assess the appropriateness of the content and collecting views of the participants, conducting questionnaire surveys, and evaluating the opinions of the participants towards the programmes by arranging interviews and post-tour sharing sessions. Such efforts are conducive to the continuous enhancement and exploration of diverse themes for Mainland exchange and study tours. We will also regularly review the performance of the service providers concerned and monitor the progress and implementation of their work through field inspections and work reports, etc. Any cases of unsatisfactory performance of service providers will be handled by the EDB according to the established mechanism. According to existing records, no service provider has been removed from the list of potential service providers for exchange and study tours by the EDB due to poor track records.
Regarding the incidents in which students of individual schools had developed gastroenteritis symptoms during the Mainland exchange and study tours for students conducted earlier, we seriously and promptly followed up with relevant Mainland organisations/units to provide appropriate support for the schools concerned, including arranging for those students feeling sick to see a local doctor upon parental consent, reallocating rooms for them to prevent cross-infection, providing antiseptic products and arranging disinfection of the coaches. For the sake of safety, while the source of the outbreak could not be verified, we had immediately requested relevant service providers to stop patronising the suspected eatery, and required all those which offered catering service for MEPs for students and CS Mainland study tours to temporarily stop serving raw and undercooked food and cooked shellfish, etc. All the tours concerned had returned to Hong Kong after successful completion of their journey.
Meanwhile, we have promptly set up a dedicated task force for student Mainland study tours to enhance the arrangements for exchange and study activities in a timely manner. Efforts include directly liaising and arranging regular collaboration meetings with Mainland departments and units, with a view to improving various facilities and arrangements to further ensure students’ safety. We have also reached a consensus with service providers on strengthening the notification mechanism for unforeseen incidents. In the event of an incident, the service providers should get to know the situation as soon as possible, keep abreast of its developments, and provide appropriate assistance. They have also been reminded that there should be more detailed planning and contingency measures for the itinerary, accommodation and catering arrangements, etc. The information presented and guidelines for the pre-departure on-site briefings have also been updated to enhance the hygiene and safety awareness of teachers and students. Moreover, we will maintain close liaison with the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health (DH) to update from time to time the latest information on disease prevention and control provided by the EDB and the DH on the “Passing on the Torch” National Education Activities Series website (www.passontorch.org.hk/en), and remind all primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong to check out and get familiar with such information before setting off for the tours. To enable accompanying teachers to get hold of the latest information on exchange tours, the EDB will regularly organise briefings and sharing sessions to promote the good practices of different schools and provide illustrative examples on how to respond to emergencies for the schools’ reference.
On promoting patriotic education, it was mentioned in “The Chief Executive’s 2024 Policy Address” that starting from the 2024/25 s.y., at least 30 routes with “red resources” would be provided through the Mainland exchange and study tours for students. The EDB has made corresponding arrangements to incorporate relevant visiting spots, including historical sites, museums and thematic memorial halls, as well as learning activities, into 30 routes of MEPs and 11 routes of CS Mainland study tours respectively. To further strengthen patriotic education, and tie in with the launch of the Curriculum Framework of National Security Education in Hong Kong (2025) and mark the 80th anniversary of victory in the War of Resistance, starting from the 2025/26 s.y., the number of routes with “red resources” to be provided through MEPs and CS Mainland study tours for students will be increased to 33 and 15 respectively to facilitate students’ understanding of the revolutionary stories and arduous struggles of our revolutionary predecessors and foster their national spirit. The EDB will continue to gauge views from different stakeholders for reviewing the effectiveness of and enhance the arrangements for the Mainland exchange and study tours for students. The EDB will also keep in view the learning effectiveness of the Mainland exchange and study tours for students through school visits and inspections, collection of student work (including photographs, video clips and student reflections), interviews with teachers and students, etc, and will share students’ learning outcomes with the public.
The EDB has all along been actively organising for the benefit of students various kinds of Mainland exchange and study tours, which have gained general support and recognition from schools. The learning outcomes of students are also remarkable. We are looking forward to the continuous support from relevant stakeholders for the Mainland exchange and study tours for students. We will also adhere to our original aspiration and continue to enhance the quality of MEPs for students, and join hands with various stakeholders to achieve more fruitful outcomes.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Following is a question by Dr the Hon Kennedy Wong and a reply by the Acting Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Dr Bernard Chan, in the Legislative Council today (July 23):
Question:
Since October last year, the Government has reduced the duty rate for liquor with import price over $200 from 100 per cent to 10 per cent for the portion above $200. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has compiled statistics on the changes in the value and volume of imports and re-exports of liquor to date after the reduction in the duty rate on liquor, and how such data compare with those prior to the reduction, together with a breakdown by type of liquor (e.g. Chinese baijiu, whisky and brandy);
(2) as the Government has indicated that the reduction in the duty rate on liquor aims to promote the development of Hong Kong into a trading hub for high-end liquor and boost the growth of various industries such as catering, hotel, logistics and warehousing, whether the Government has assessed if the policy has achieved the expected effects after its implementation; whether the Government will study a further reduction in the duty rate on liquor; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3) whether the Department of Health has, after the reduction in the duty rate on liquor, conducted a population health survey to compile statistics on the proportion of the population aged 15 or above who have consumed liquor; whether it will step up its efforts to publicise and educate the public about the health effects of alcohol, in order to prevent problems such as alcohol dependence, alcohol abuse and binge drinking; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
Having consulted the Health Bureau, the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) and the Customs and Excise Department (C&ED), the consolidated reply to the question raised by Dr the Hon Kennedy Wong is as follows:
Currently, liquor duty in Hong Kong is levied on liquor for local sales or other uses, while liquor for export or re-export through Hong Kong to other regions is not subject to duty. As such, the liquor duty reduction has a more direct impact on liquor imported for local consumption, whereas the re-export trade of liquor is more influenced by macro factors such as global economic conditions and geopolitics.
According to the statistics from the C&ED, during the 8.5-month period from the reduction of the duty rate on high-end liquor on October 16 last year to the end of June this year, both the volume (in litre) and value of duty-paid liquor import increased as compared with the 8.5-month period prior to the liquor duty reduction. Of these, the import volume of liquor rose by more than 20 per cent, while its value went up significantly by nearly 90 per cent, reflecting that the two-tier system introduced by the Government is effective in boosting high-end liquor trading. A comparison of the volume and value of duty-paid liquor before and after the reduction in liquor duty rate, as well as detailed statistics breakdown by type of liquor, is provided in Annex I for Members’ reference.
On the other hand, as liquor duty is not levied on re-exported liquor, the C&ED does not maintain statistical data on the value of liquor re-export. The information provided by the C&SD is set out in Annex II.
As the liquor duty reduction has only been implemented for a short period, its effectiveness in various aspects remains to be observed. Regarding the suggestion from some members of the trade that the Government should further reduce the duty on liquor, we would like to reiterate that the purpose of lowering liquor duty is to encourage the trade and auctions of high-end liquor in Hong Kong, thereby giving impetus to the development of other high value-added sectors such as logistics and storage, tourism as well as high-end food and beverage consumption. At the same time, we are also mindful of the need to avoid increasing liquor consumption among the public as a result of reducing liquor duty, thereby leading to other problems.
When introducing the relevant measures, the Government has fully balanced different policy considerations such as promoting economic development, maintaining stable public finances and protecting public health. We will closely monitor the development of the liquor trade and review the effectiveness of the measures in a timely manner. Any further adjustments will require careful consideration of the impact on different aspects with prudent planning. The Government currently has no plan to further adjust the duty rate on liquor.
In fact, the Government has been attaching great importance to the harms brought by alcohol, in particular alcohol dependence, alcohol abuse and binge drinking. In 2018, the Government launched the “Towards 2025: Strategy and Action Plan to Prevent and Control Non-communicable Diseases in Hong Kong”, setting out nine local targets, with “reduce harmful use of alcohol” being one of them, to be achieved by 2025. The Government will continue to adopt a risk-based approach to reduce alcohol-related harm through publicity, education, treatment and support services. Among which, the Department of Health (DH) has launched the Pilot Alcohol Cessation Counselling Service (Pilot Programme) through subvention to a non-governmental organisation. The Pilot Programme was launched on April 8, 2024, and will last for two years to provide free counselling service for Hong Kong residents identified to have probable alcohol dependence. The DH has also launched a publicity and education campaign named “Understanding Alcohol Harm” since 2022 to enhance the public’s understanding of the health risks associated with alcohol consumption; and provides online risk assessment of drinking behaviour, personalised health advice, self-help tools, health education resources, etc to encourage drinkers to change their drinking behaviour for the sake of their health.
In addition, the DH conducts the Population Health Survey (PHS) approximately every five years with the Health Behaviour Survey conducted in between as regular surveillance to understand the health status of the Hong Kong population, including drinking behaviours. Figures relevant to drinking behaviours in past PHSs are set out in Annex III. The 2025/26 PHS is expected to commence in the third quarter this year with the findings to be available in end-2026, which would reflect the situation after the partial reduction of duty on liquor.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Following is a question by the Hon Tommy Cheung and a reply by the Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin, in the Legislative Council today (July 23):
Question:
(3) whether any PI KGs have participated in the Guangdong-Hong Kong Sister Kindergarten Exchange Programme which has been launched by the EDB since the 2023-2024 school year; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
President,
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States has reached a trade deal with Japan, which will impose a 15 percent tariff on Japanese goods.
Japan will invest 550 billion U.S. dollars into the United States, which will receive 90 percent of the profits, said Trump, adding that the deal will create hundreds of thousands of jobs.
“Japan will open their Country to Trade including Cars and Trucks, Rice and certain other Agricultural Products, and other things. Japan will pay Reciprocal Tariffs to the United States of 15 percent,” said Trump in a post on social media.
In a recent letter to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Trump threatened to raise the so-called reciprocal tariff on Japan to 25 percent starting Aug. 1, higher than the 24 percent tariff announced on April 2.
As one of the major U.S. trading partners, Japan has been tough in bilateral trade talks.
The United States saw 68.5 billion dollars of trade deficit in goods with Japan in 2024, with imports from Japan totalling 148.2 billion dollars and exports to Japan at 79.7 billion dollars, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
Trump also announced a trade deal with the Philippines after meeting Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier Tuesday.
Still, the White House hasn’t released details on U.S. trade deals with the Philippines and Japan.
On Tuesday, the White House unveiled more details about the U.S. trade deal with Indonesia, which was announced on July 15.
Indonesia will eliminate approximately 99 percent of tariff barriers for a full range of U.S. industrial, food and agricultural products exported to Indonesia, while the United States will impose a 19 percent tariff on products imported from Indonesia, said a release by the White House.
Indonesia will remove restrictions on exports to the United States of industrial commodities, including critical minerals, it said.
Trump has signed an executive order earlier this month to extend the 90-day suspension of sweeping U.S. reciprocal tariffs from July 9 to Aug. 1, with trade negotiations ongoing with the European Union and other major trading partners.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Bayanda Walaza sprinted to the men’s 100m title to give South Africa its third gold medal at the Rhine-Ruhr World University Games, while Team USA continued to dominate the swimming pool with four more golds on Tuesday night.
The Paris 2024 Olympian and world junior champion crossed the line in 10.16 seconds, edging Thailand’s Puripol Boonson (10.22), the same rival he beat at last year’s under-20 global competition in Peru. Asian champion Hiroki Yanagita finished third, just 0.01 seconds behind Boonson.
“I feel glorified. I believe in winning. As soon as I was on that [start] line, I was looking at that finish line. My mind was there. I need to cross it before everyone,” said Walaza, who, at just 18, ran the leadoff leg in the men’s 4x100m relay final to help South Africa claim silver at Paris 2024.
Ai Yanhan (3rd L) of China competes during the women’s 200m freestyle final of swimming at the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games in Berlin, Germany, July 22, 2025. (Xinhua/Du Zheyu)
Walaza became just the ninth South African to break the 10-second barrier in the 100m when he clocked 9.94 in Zagreb in May. Weeks earlier, he set a national junior record of 20.08 in the 200m.
Australia’s Georgia Harris won the women’s 100m in 11.44, ahead of Poland’s Magdalena Stefanowicz (11.49) and South Africa’s Gabriella Marais (11.51).
Germany claimed a one-two finish in the men’s discus, with Mika Sosna winning gold with a throw of 64.26 meters and Steven Richter taking silver at 61.77. Ukraine’s Mykhailo Brudin posted a season-best 60.71 to earn bronze.
The women’s long jump podium was separated by just three centimeters. Portugal’s Agate Sousa leaped 6.60 meters, two centimeters ahead of China’s Asian Games champion Xiong Shiqi, who finished one centimeter ahead of Spain’s Natalia Gonzalez.
“It’s a pity to miss the top place by just two centimeters,” said Xiong, who earned China’s first athletics medal at the Games. “But the result is compatible with my capability and my expectation. I want to inspire my teammates in the upcoming track and field competitions with this very first medal in the stadium for China.”
Swedish Olympian Axelina Johansson won the women’s shot put with a throw of 18.45 meters. American top qualifier Abria Smith followed with 17.38, while South Africa’s Colette Uys claimed bronze at 17.34, narrowly ahead of compatriot Mine de Klerk by one centimeter.
Seven finals were contested in the pool, with Team USA winning four. The American men continued their relay dominance with a record-breaking win in the 4x200m freestyle, finishing in 7:04.51 to break the previous Games mark of 7:05.49 set by Russia in 2013.
Cavan Gormsen surged from eighth to first on the back half of the women’s 200m freestyle, winning gold for the U.S. in 1:57.21. She closed the final 50 meters in 29.13 to pass three swimmers and edge China’s Ai Yanhan by 0.3 seconds.
Leah Shackley broke her own day-old meet record to win the women’s 50m backstroke in 27.31 seconds, trimming 0.3 off her semifinal time of 27.66.
In the women’s 200m individual medley, another American, Leah Hayes, won gold in 2:09.48, improving on her Games record from the semifinal.
Competing as a neutral athlete, Aleksandr Stepanov won his second freestyle distance title of the meet with victory in the men’s 800m in 7:46.51, finishing nearly four seconds ahead of Italy’s Tommaso Griffante.
Italy’s Gianmarco Sansone claimed gold in the men’s 100m butterfly with a personal-best 51.40. Germany’s Bjorn Kammann finished second in 51.70, followed by Uzbekistan’s Eldorbek Usmonov (51.84).
Federico Rizzardi earned Italy’s second gold of the session, winning the men’s 50m breaststroke in 27.14, nearly 0.2 seconds ahead of the field.
In diving, China’s Zhang Wenao won gold in the men’s 1m springboard with 425.85 points, followed by teammate Hu Yukang (368.75). Germany’s Tim Axur took bronze with 354.80.
South Korea claimed its fifth fencing gold by edging France 45-43 in the women’s sabre team event. Italy secured its third fencing title with a commanding 45-20 win over Poland in the men’s foil team final.
The top three on the medal table remained unchanged after the sixth day of competition. The U.S. leads with 21 golds (20 in swimming), 12 silvers and 20 bronzes, followed by China (12-17-4) and South Korea (11-5-13). Host Germany sits fourth with seven golds, six silvers and eight bronzes.
Source: Government of India
Source: Government of India (4)
Both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned till 2 pm on Wednesday after repeated disruptions by Opposition members, who raised slogans and protested the dismissal of adjournment motions.
The day’s proceedings began at 11 am but were adjourned shortly afterward due to continued uproar in both Houses. Proceedings resumed at 12 PM, only to be disrupted again.
In the Rajya Sabha, Opposition MPs protested after their adjournment notices — seeking discussions on various pressing matters, including the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar — were rejected. Amid the commotion, the Upper House was adjourned till 2 pm.
The Lok Sabha also faced repeated interruptions. Speaker Om Birla urged members not to carry placards into the House and warned that strict action would be taken against those disrupting the Question Hour. Despite this, protests persisted, leading to another adjournment till 2 pm.
Before the adjournment, Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Mansukh Mandaviya introduced two key bills in the Lok Sabha — the National Sports Governance Bill, 2025, and the National Anti-Doping (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
The Monsoon Session will comprise 21 sittings spread over 32 days and will conclude on August 21. Both Houses will be adjourned on August 12 and reassembled on Monday, August 18, to facilitate Independence Day celebrations.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
For almost as long anyone can remember, the Nationals have caused the Coalition grief on climate and energy policy. Still, for Barnaby Joyce to bring on a fresh load of trouble – with a private member’s bill to scrap Australia’s commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 – in Sussan Ley’s first parliamentary week as opposition leader was beyond provocative.
And for Michael McCormack to support him reinforced the impression the Nationals don’t give a fig about the wider interests of a Coalition confronting very dark days.
The bill will go nowhere but the issue will tear at the opposition.
Both Joyce and McCormack are former leaders, and they are former rivals. In 2021 Joyce overthrew McCormack as leader. McCormack used to be a supporter of net zero. Joyce, a deputy prime minister, did a deal with then prime minister Scott Morrison for the Nationals to back net zero before Morrison went to the Glasgow COP conference in 2021. The Nationals are their own game of snakes and ladders.
Now Joyce says he never supported the net zero target – which is sort of correct, because his own position during that deal (involving the trade off of promised huge infrastructure spending) was near impossible to fathom.
On why stir the issue in the first parliamentary week, Joyce says, “Now is the time, when the agenda has not been set”.
McCormack says he supported net zero in 2021 because Australia was suffering the trade restrictions imposed by China and needed to expand its exports to Europe, where many countries required the commitment. The farmers in his Riverina electorate wanted him to support it, he says.
Despite disclaimers, this undermines the authority of Nationals leader David Littleproud, already weakened by the events around the temporary split in the Coalition after the election. The Nationals obtained their several policy demands (that didn’t relate to net zero) but Littleproud came in for a good deal of criticism.
The Nationals are split over net zero, but it is looking increasingly difficult for those who want to preserve the commitment to hold the line. Joyce says he hopes the numbers are there in the party room to ditch it, and he suspects they are but “I don’t know”. McCormack believes the numbers are there.
While Littleproud says he is waiting for the party’s own review, under net zero opponent senator Matt Canavan, he suggested the net zero commitment was “trying to achieve the impossible rather than doing what’s sensible”.
The Liberals are divided too, but those wanting to end the commitment are in a minority. Former frontbencher Jane Hume spoke out on Wednesday, stressing how important the commitment was. “Over and over, the electorate has told us that they want to see a net zero energy future,” she told Sky. “My personal opinion is that this is profoundly important for not just the electorate, but also for our country.”
But if the Nationals repudiated the net zero target, that would embolden the Liberal critics and probably add to their number. It would drive a wedge into the Coalition, and might be serious enough to split it.
The Ley critics within the Liberals won’t be shedding any tears over the damage, now and later, that this issue will do her. Neither will Littleproud – it’s well known the two are not close.
Ley herself can only say the opposition has a working group looking at energy and emissions reduction policy. But she knows this is simply a holding position. It’s impossible to think that the working group, headed by energy spokesman Dan Tehan, can come up with any policy position that unites two diametrically opposed positions.
Tehan said of Joyce and McCormack, “They’re two steers fighting in the neighbour’s paddock”. The flaw with this dismissal is that the steers are actually part of the broad Coalition herd.
In the first question time of the new parliament, the opposition wasn’t able to score any hits on the government. The prime minister and other ministers were able to shrug off questions about Labor’s proposed tax on unrealised capital gains on big superannuation balances, and other issues. Energy Minister Chris Bowen had been handed ammunition to deploy against the opposition.
The overwhelming message of the day was that the opposition had made itself the issue. From the Coalition’s point of view, the problem is this damaging conversation will go on a long time.
Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
– ref. View from The Hill: Nationals’ mavericks ensure the Coalition is the issue in parliament’s first week – https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-nationals-mavericks-ensure-the-coalition-is-the-issue-in-parliaments-first-week-261099
Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
The Polytechnic University is completing the main stage of accepting documents from foreign applicants. During the large-scale campaign, the university team participated in educational exhibitions, quota selections and webinars in the countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America and the CIS.
Since autumn 2024, the university has presented its educational programs at 39 events, including 12 face-to-face (in China, Turkey, Vietnam, Morocco, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan) and six online exhibitions, 17 information webinars and four regional selection rounds jointly with Rossotrudnichestvo representative offices. Foreign applicants familiarized themselves with the new admission algorithms. To promote the Open Doors international Olympiad, which gives talented students a unique opportunity to enter the Polytechnic University and study for free, an interview with the winners was held. They told their compatriots about studying at SPbPU. Also, specialized webinars on the master’s and bachelor’s degree tracks were held jointly with the Global Universities Association.
This year, a unified algorithm for admission to Russian universities for foreign and Russian citizens was launched. Now foreigners participate in the general competition on an equal basis with Russian schoolchildren. The progress of admission can be monitored in real time through the competition lists, which are already available on the official website of the university. The results of the main stage of enrollment will be known in August. Based on the results of the summer campaign, additional recruitment will take place for the remaining vacancies.
An important innovation of the international Open Doors Olympiad is the opening of the bachelor’s degree program for the winners. If previously only applicants for master’s and postgraduate studies participated, now future bachelors can too. At the moment, about 300 applications have been received, and about a hundred of them are for bachelor’s degree programs. Most of the guys participating in the Olympiad represent foreign countries and do not speak Russian. Therefore, after admission, they will begin their studies with a pre-university training program.
Polytechnic University traditionally attracts great interest from applicants from key regions: the CIS countries (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are in the lead), China and other BRICS countries, Turkey and Latin America (especially Colombia and Ecuador). At the same time, the number of representatives of the African continent interested in studying in pre-university training programs is growing at the university. To develop this area, Polytechnic University took part in a special series of events organized by the Rosatom State Corporation. A series of exhibition and presentation webinars and educational lectures covered nuclear technologies in energy and their non-energy applications in related industries. Popular science lectures were given by Associate Professor of the Higher School of Mechanical Engineering Hamuda Khaled and Senior Lecturer of the Higher School of Technosphere Safety Jamilya Idrisova. The goal is to attract students from African countries to Rosatom’s flagship universities to study in nuclear and related specialties in Russia.
A significant number of bachelor’s and master’s degree graduates choose to continue their education at SPbPU. According to preliminary data from the admissions campaign, over 2,000 applications have already been submitted for the main educational programs (bachelor’s, master’s, postgraduate) under the contract, and over 800 for the preparatory faculty. Candidates within the Russian Federation Government quota are also being considered. Over 800 applications have been processed to date.
The most popular bachelor’s degree programs among applicants are economics and international relations, engineering and construction programs, IT and high technology. Of particular interest is the English-language program “International Business”.
The following areas are in demand in the Master’s program: construction, electric power engineering and electrical engineering, automation of technological processes, management, foreign regional studies, applied mechanics. The following English-language areas are also in demand: “Informatics and computing engineering”, “Biotechnical systems and technologies”, “Infocommunication technologies and communication systems”, “Development of international business”, “Intelligent systems”, “Microelectronics of infocommunication systems”, “Civil engineering” and “Molecular and cellular biotechnology”.
In postgraduate studies, technical fields (energy, construction, mechanical engineering) and biotechnology are leading.
“It is difficult to predict the results of the new admissions system, including the movement of competition lists, since this is the first such experience. We recommend that applicants closely monitor updates on the SPbPU website and be prepared for additional recruitment in August. Despite the novelty of the procedure and the complexity of the exams, the interim figures indicate a record interest in studying at the leading technical university in Russia,” said Evgeniya Satalkina, Head of the International Education Department.
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erin Harper, Lecturer, School of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney
Childcare centres will lose their eligibility for fee subsidies if they don’t meet safety standards, according to a new bill introduced to parliament on Wednesday.
As Education Minister Jason Clare told parliament:
it will give us the power to cut off funding to childcare centres that aren’t up to scratch.
The bill follows recent allegations a Victorian childcare worker abused children in his care. There have also been allegations of abuse in centres in New South Wales and Queensland. Labor has warned lower house MPs it can expect late nights next week, to try to get this bill and the governments’ plan to cut HELP debts through parliament.
What’s in the bill? What does it mean for families? And what’s missing?
Clare told parliament the federal government’s childcare subsidy currently covers about 70% of the average cost of running a centre.
This legislation gives the federal education department the power to suspend or cancel that funding if a centre “is not meeting the quality, safety and other compliance requirements,” according to the national system of early childhood regulation.
The department could also stop a childcare operator from opening a new service if there are problems with existing services.
It applies to all types of early childhood services from daycare centres to family daycare, and also before and after school care.
The federal education department will also have new powers to do spot checks in services (this is on top of state authorities who can already do checks).
It is positive to see strengthened measures to take a providers’ track record into account before saying “yes you can open another service”. This is a slightly more proactive measure, in addition to punishments for services that do not comply.
We are also seeing more transparency. The bill will provide new powers to publicise when a provider is refused approval for a new service.
It can also publish other compliance action taken against providers, such as when conditions are applied – and the details of those conditions. Or if a fine has been imposed.
This means families and the broader public – including any shareholders – will also be more aware of what is going on in childcare services.
While the Coalition and the Greens are broadly supportive of the bill, they also want to see further changes.
Clare told parliament the bill is not the only measure the federal government was making around childcare standards.
State and federal education ministers are due to meet next month to discuss child safety. This includes a national register to track early childhood workers from centre to centre, mandatory “child safety training”, CCTV for centres and other recommendations from the recent Wheeler review on the NSW early childhood sector.
Attorneys general will also meet next month to discuss how to improve working with children checks.
Read more:
What are working with children checks? Why aren’t they keeping kids safe at daycare?
We also need to think about the practical consequences of the bill. If the childcare subsidy was removed from any service – whether they are private or not-for-profit – they would quickly become unviable.
Without the subsidy (which reduces out-of-pocket costs for parents), many families would not be able to afford childcare.
If a service is going to have access to the subsidy taken away, how much notice should families get? These details need thoughtful consideration.
If the federal education department is going to have a team of people doing checks on services, we also need to ask, how will this work? How quickly will they be able to do these checks? One of the issues with the current system is there are long delays between assessments. This suggests it will need careful planning and it will also cost some money.
Beyond these questions, there is the bigger picture of childcare quality in Australia. The system is complex but people who educate and care for children are at the heart of it.
My recent research has revealed educators are only spending 30% of their time on undistracted and uninterrupted time with children. This is due to the heavy and sometimes competing demands of their work, including administrative and cleaning duties. Educators say this diminishes their capacity to provide quality education and care.
Heavy and distracting workloads, along with widespread reports of understaffing and breaches to minimum staff-to-child ratios, makes it difficult for educators to keep children safe.
So meaningful reform must consider educators’ experiences, and include strategies to increase support for educators to do their jobs well.
Erin Harper does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
– ref. Childcare centres will have funding stripped if they’re not ‘up to scratch’. Is this enough? – https://theconversation.com/childcare-centres-will-have-funding-stripped-if-theyre-not-up-to-scratch-is-this-enough-261761
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
LONDON, July 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Magnite (NASDAQ: MGNI), the largest independent sell-side advertising company, has announced a strategic partnership with dentsu in EMEA to accelerate innovation and performance across the media supply chain. Dentsu is tapping into Magnite’s built-for-video tools and technology to power dentsu Total TV and support its ambition to lead in the “Algorithmic Era” of advertising, where interoperability, automation and outcome-driven planning are key.
Across multiple EMEA markets, including Spain and the UK, the Magnite SpringServe video platform is empowering dentsu with more efficient, data-rich connections to inventory, enabling them to curate premium media experiences with greater precision, transparency and scale. From video and CTV to emerging formats, the partnership reflects a shared commitment to evolving how media is deployed and optimised, with client performance at the centre.
“Our relationship with dentsu is a great example of how technology and collaboration can unlock real value,” said Julie Selman, SVP, Head of EMEA at Magnite. “We’re proud to support dentsu’s vision for the future by providing the tools and insights needed to deliver stronger results and a more efficient media experience for clients and publishers alike.”
“In this new era of advertising, media must work harder, smarter and faster,” said Ben Angove, President, Amplifi EMEA & Chief Strategy Officer, Amplifi Global at dentsu. “At dentsu, we are committed to building Next Gen media solutions in partnership with best-in-class technologies that ultimately enable our clients to win and grow in the Algorithmic Era. Our partnership with Magnite gives us the tools to do just that – connecting the right data with the right inventory to drive better results for our clients across the region.”
Magnite’s technology plays a key role in helping dentsu move beyond transactional media buying, towards a more curated, high-performance approach. The collaboration helps dentsu gain greater visibility and control of their media buys, enabling more intelligent decision-making and unlocking new opportunities for optimisation across the media ecosystem.
Press contact
Paige Brewer, Account Executive, Bluestripe Group
magnite@bluestripegroup.co.uk
About Magnite
We’re Magnite (NASDAQ: MGNI), the world’s largest independent sell-side advertising company. Publishers use our technology to monetize their content across all screens and formats including CTV, online video, display, and audio. The world’s leading agencies and brands trust our platform to access brand-safe, high-quality ad inventory and execute billions of advertising transactions each month. Anchored in bustling New York City, sunny Los Angeles, mile high Denver, historic London, colorful Singapore, and down under in Sydney, Magnite has offices across North America, EMEA, LATAM, and APAC.
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
Societe Generale to act as market maker for 21Shares’ Bitcoin and Ethereum ETPs on key German and Eastern Europe fund platforms, expanding institutional access to crypto
Zurich, 23 July 2025 – 21Shares AG, one of the world’s leading issuers of cryptocurrency exchange-traded products (ETPs), is pleased to announce it has entered into an ETP market making fund platform agreement with Societe Generale, a leading institutional player in exchange traded products, to enhance liquidity across 21Shares ETPs on fund platforms for investors in Germany and Eastern Europe.
As part of the agreement, Societe Generale will support the trading of 21Shares’ Bitcoin and Ethereum ETPs (ABTC, CBTC, AETH, CETH) by providing over-the-counter liquidity on key fund platforms in Germany and Eastern Europe. These platforms, typically operated by major financial institutions, serve as critical infrastructure for institutional trading. By joining these platforms, where Societe Generale acts as a market maker, 21Shares’ flagship crypto products will now be accessible to a wider base of professional investors, expanding institutional reach across Germany and Eastern Europe.
“We are thrilled to partner with Societe Generale, a major player in the European ETF space, as we continue to expand access to our ETPs,” said Alistair Byas-Perry, Global Head of Capital Markets & EMEA Investment at 21Shares. “By bringing liquidity to our Bitcoin and Ethereum ETPs, Societe Generale is helping us advance our mission to deliver the most efficient and trusted crypto investment solutions to the market.”
“Societe Generale is excited to partner with 21Shares, a leading provider of cryptocurrency ETPs, to support the trading of their Bitcoin and Ethereum ETPs on fund platforms. This marks a significant milestone in our commitment to providing innovative liquidity solutions and enhancing access to a wide range of ETFs and ETPs for our clients,” said Martina Schroettle, Head of ETF Sales Trading UK at Societe Generale.
The partnership is expected to enhance liquidity, execution quality, and ease of access for German and Eastern European institutional investors navigating the digital asset market.
For more information on 21Shares’ full product suite, visit www.21shares.com.
Notes to editors
About 21Shares
21Shares is one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange traded product providers and offers the largest suite of crypto ETPs in the market. The company was founded to make cryptocurrency more accessible to investors, and to bridge the gap between traditional finance and decentralized finance. 21Shares listed the world’s first physically-backed crypto ETP in 2018, building a seven-year track record of creating crypto exchange-traded funds that are listed on some of the biggest, most liquid securities exchanges globally. Backed by a specialised research team, proprietary technology, and deep capital markets expertise, 21Shares delivers innovative, simple and cost-efficient investment solutions.
21Shares is a member of 21.co, a global leader in decentralized finance. For more information, please visit www.21Shares.com.
Media Contact
Matteo Valli
matteo.valli@21shares.com
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The approval of the Issuer’s Base Prospectus (EU) should not be understood as an endorsement by the SFSA of the securities offered or admitted to trading on a regulated market. Eligible potential investors should read the Issuer’s Base Prospectus (EU) and the relevant Final Terms before making an investment decision in order to understand the potential risks associated with the decision to invest in the securities. You are about to purchase a product that is not simple and may be difficult to understand.
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Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
WASHINGTON, July 23 (Xinhua) — The United States has reached a trade deal with Japan that includes a 15 percent tariff on Japanese goods, U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media on Tuesday.
Japan will invest $550 billion in the United States, which will receive 90 percent of the profits, he said, adding that the deal will create hundreds of thousands of jobs.
“Japan will open its country to trade, including cars and trucks, rice and some other agricultural products, and other goods. Japan will pay the United States equivalent tariffs of 15 percent,” the president wrote.
In a recent letter to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, the U.S. leader threatened to raise tariffs on Japan to 25 percent from August 1, up from the 24 percent tariff announced on April 2.
As one of the United States’ major trading partners, Japan has been tough in bilateral trade negotiations.
According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S.-Japan merchandise trade deficit in 2024 was $68.5 billion, with imports from Japan reaching $148.2 billion and exports to Japan reaching $79.7 billion.
D. Trump also announced a trade deal with the Philippines after meeting with the country’s President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier on Tuesday.
The White House did not release details of the trade deals with the Philippines and Japan.
On Tuesday, U.S. officials released more details about the trade deal with Indonesia, which was announced July 15. Indonesia will eliminate about 99 percent of tariff barriers on a full range of U.S. manufactured, food, and agricultural goods, while the United States will impose a 19 percent tariff on Indonesian imports. Jakarta will also lift restrictions on exports to the U.S. of manufactured goods, including key minerals.
Earlier in July, Trump pushed back the tariffs’ implementation date from July 9 to August 1 amid ongoing negotiations with the European Union and other major trading partners. –0–
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
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